about one-fifth bills. making it the do way less than the do nothing congress. it is this congress' great good fortune that right now when we are reflecting on how little they have done, how little they have accomplished, something goes into effect from a previous congress that did actually do something. maybe the calm act passed a couple of years ago but it is going into effect now. it is making headlines now reminding us that congress is supposed to do even basic stuff that improves our lives. which maybe should be both an inspiration as well as a satisfying calming effect on your ink. this moment tus day of 12-12-12 will go down in political history as the day rush limbaugh gave up and found himself agreeing with me.

the clock is rapidly ticking down to christmas. >> republican leaders warning their colleagues. >> we are committed to staying here. >> not to make any holiday plans. >> we are going to stay here right up until christmas eve. >> fiscal tensions mount as the clock clicks down christmas less than two weeks way, the moment the nation is due to go off the cliff. >> we are getting a little close. >> the white house has moved a little bit. >> i remain optimistic. >> nothing yet from the house republicans. >> the two sides really do disagree. >> sunday is basically the deadline. >> they could be working through the holidays. >> the president and john boehner talked on the phone last night. >> boehner and the president spoke on the phone yesterday. >> described as tense. >> i remain the most optimistic person in this town. >> i remain optimistic. >> what do they want? >> most americans say they want compromise. >> voters overwhelmingly disapprove. >> figure it out.

we did. figure it out z we are 20 days away from the so-called fiscal cliff. >> republicans are tote little over the barrel. >> we are committed to staying here. >> we don't have an agreement today. >> we are going to stay here right up until christmas eve. >> they will be pushing all that and we'll go to the senate and we'll lose. with just 20 shopping days until the fiscal curve, president obama stood firm on raising the top income tax rates today and john boehner took one more baby step toward the president. tonight, politico reveals that house speaker told barack obama he is prepared to consider more than the $800 billion that the gop has already proposed in new tax revenues but only if the white house will back much deeper cuts to entitlement programs according to several sources familiar with the talks

getting beyond $800 billion in revenue without raising tax rates on upper income families would be difficult. today, speaker boehner, told house republicans not to make any plans for the holidays and then told reporters this. >> the president and i had a deliberate call yesterday. we spoke honestly and openly about the differences that we face but the president's call for $1.4 trillion worth of revenue. the glass half full. i roux he main the most optimistic person in this town but we've got some serious differences. >> president obama seems to remain comfortable with, if necessary, taking that step off the fiscal curve. >> i'm pretty confident that republicans would not hold middle class taxes hostage to

try to protect tax cuts for high income individuals. >> prediction? are you going to be able to raise taxes, yes or no? >> oh, taxes are going to go up one way or the other. >> in a just-released nbc news poll, 76% of americans say it is acceptable to raise income tax rates on people who earn more than $250,000 per year to avoid the fiscal cliff and reduce the deficit. today, rush limbaugh after searching for and failing to find a way out for republicans on the fiscal cliff dilemma found himself making the point that i made five months ago on this program at this desk. for some reason, rush failed to give me credit for what he told his audience today. >> so we go over the cliff. everybody's rates go up. here comes obama in the white hat on the whitehorse to save the day. he is going to propose, guess what? tax cuts for the middle class

and, thereby, take the issue away from the republicans. tax cuts for the rich they will own. somebody needs to explain to me what is the benefit to obama in letting the republicans out of the trap of going over the cliff? i think going over the cliff is the most attractive option obama has. >> crystal, you can learn it from rush limbaugh on 12-12-12 or you could have learned it from me this summer. >> i learned it from you this summer. >> there you go. he is finally catching on. he finally gets it. >> it pains me a little bit to say this but rush is right. if republicans were smart. >> this is the rush is right night. >> that's the theme of the night. >> i'm not going to show any more rush. he has three hours of radio today. that thing that we just showed is the rush is right moment. >> if they were smart, they would go ahead and do that. take it off the table and live to fight another day. i do think they are a little bit

delusional about the am of leverage that they will have around the debt ceiling as well. holding the debt ceiling hostage is extremely unpopular, as is taking away people's medicare. you are going to do two things. your going to hold the debt ceiling hostage in order to take people's medicare away. it is going to be massively politically unpopular if they try to do it. i don't think they will have the stomach for that political fight either. >> conservative columnist john pedorick made an important point. he said is that 4.6 percentage point overall gain the tipping point to what mitt romney called a government-centered society. the case would be easier to make if it were an unprecedented hike but it's not. it's a return to a rate from the mid 1990s. ari, that's the problem. the big scary thing president obama is talking about is having the big scary top tax rate be the same as it was under president clinton when people in the top tax bracket had a great time.

>> exactly. everyone remembers that. everyone understands that. there isn't a big principle here left for the republicans. that's why the fallback position i think shows a great weakness. it also shows a top of economic nihilism that they don't care about the credit rating of the united states of america. we already knew that. the other difference that is going to hurt them, we are seeing it in the bloomberg news poll and the views. this should be a compromise time and obama should get the tax hike on the upper 2%. people talk about a teachable moment. this is a teachable month. this is taking a long time. it hurts republicans because people are seeing the intransigents and seeing who is in the way of recovery. >> there is a new theory about the pace of things. chris van hollen thinks it has something to do with speaker boehner's future. >> i am getting increasingly concerned that one of the reasons the speaker is deciding

to, i think, spring out these discussions is that he wants to wait until january 3rd, when the election for speaker takes place. >> krystal, that's the kind of thing i wish i thought of. i've been seeing this thing as being a january 3rd or 4th reality point for negotiations. i wish i would have caught that point. that's a good point. >> here is something that you did think of when you were so kind as to grace us with you being on our show. >> the cycle at 3:00 p.m. >> thank you. >> sometime last week. you were talking about how john boehner got some control of his caucus by doing what no speaker in the past has done, by letting the crazies rule the roost. it wasn't his choice but it was what he had to do to send the strategy. that lesson hasn't totally sunk in yet. i don't think they have completely resigned themselves to the fact that they are going to have to give on tax rates. going back to what you were just citing, a lot of them do see

taxes as the core principle. raising them is an@ma to the republican ideology because they have seeded every other idea they have had. they have spent their time yelling about socialism and death panels rather than offering ideas that make sense to the american people. >> ari, the thing ha happens when you are off the cliff is as of that day anything you would then vote on is a tax cut? >> right. >> the tenses all become correct. right now, it is not considered a tax cut, because it is a future dealing with the rates. if the rates are up here on january 2nd and on january 5th, you get to vote for them to be down here, you just voted for a tax cut. >> exactly. you saw that in the clip you played of the president talking to barbara walters. a lot of times we talk about framing and messaging. this isn't about framing.

the facts are, as you just stated, that the taxes will shift back and we can start anew. it is not like a frame or a gimmick. those are the facts. again, going back to the clinton era, going back to something that we know was fine that didn't hurt job creators is perfectly palatable. that's why republicans increasingly look extreme holding on to this last par. stock futures went up today. we don't have any silver anymore. but we have a lot of people in the markets who actually do think this deal is going to work out and probably work out on obama's terms. >> i think they think what republican senator, bob corker, said today. let's listen to this. >> at the end of this year, in some form or fashion, whether we embarrass ourselves and wait and go over the cliff and next year or before this year ends, we are going to offer revenues, right? i don't know how anybody can believe that revenues aren't coming.

what i would say to everyone here, let's move to entitlement reform. that's the only thing candidly that hasn't been talked about in this debate. >> krystal, it is really striking how republicans feel perfectly free to go out there and say, it's going to happen. starting with congressman cole in the house and no one in the leadership is saying to them, don't do that. mitch mcconnell could easily have said to corker, look, bob, not today. we have to hang tight against obama in our negotiations, none of that. they are allowing these republicans to go up there and soften the wall against these taxes. >> i loved when tom cole first came out and said, this is what we should do, go along with the president. boehner did come out and make a cursory, he shouldn't have said that. cole went on five more shows to reiterate the exact same point. this helps boehner to be able to soften up his caucus. the fact that you are seeing

people like rush limbaugh and ann coulter say that this is where we have to go, i think it does provide measure of comfort for further to the right republicans who are worried not about a general election but are worried about their primaries back home. >> the guys way over on the right don't have to vote for this. they can vote no. you are going to get enough democrats and other republicans to pass it. those guys can be given a pass. >> exactly. that's one thing that ex speaker pelosi was saying. when she was speaker, she did bring certain things to the floor that she didn't like, because she had a notion of responsibility. >> funding the iraq war. >> you don't have that responsibility here yet. >> krystal ball and ari melber. thanks for joining me. the case of the silent tea party in the fiscal cliff negotiations. where in the world is michele bachmann? in the rewrite, what republican house members tell themselves about their history with taxation and what they don't know about the republican party's history with taxation.

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coming up, who isn't talking about the fiscal cliff? well, the tea party. later in the rewrite, why abraham lincoln spoils the never raised taxes argument for republicans. that's coming up what hillary clinton said tonight about running for president. later, we will have a very special update about the kind fund. there aren't any taxes in if your tv were a space captain, zeebox would be an alien, first officer. just like an officer helps a captain explore the universe, zeebox helps you discover what shows are most popular, where the biggest buzz is, or what the stars are watching now. download zeebox free,

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[ male announcer ] learn more at isitlowt.com. [ laughs ] hey! there aren't any taxes in his bill. why won't you vote for it? >> i introduced a bill to lower the debt ceiling, not raise it. we need to lower it. >> that was the most absurdist comment uttered during the last showdown between president obama and the republican house of representatives. the debt ceiling debacle in the summer of 2011 made by paul brown. in 2011, the paul browns in the republican house had enough power to threaten john boehner's speakership and the full faith

and credit of the united states. in 2011, every day was marked with a new headline like this one in politico, boehner tries to tame gop on debt ceiling plan. that article was published on july 27, 2011. the very next day, the house member who was then the republican front-runner for president went to the national press club and actually said this. >> it did not include the defunding nor the repeal of obama care and it also increased the debt ceiling. i couldn't go down that road. so i couldn't give john boehner that vote. john boehner now has a second alternative that you have heard of. i will not be casting my vote for that bill. i cannot. i am committed to not raising the debt ceiling. >> yep, she was the front-runner in the polls back when she said that. in 2011, boehner lost 66 members of his party on the bill to raise the debt ceiling but that

was then and this is no you. one republican who voted no in 2011 told "the washington post" today, quote, speaker boehner has a very hard job. i could not do his job. and i would not do his job. it's easy for me at the lowest level of the house to criticize what others are trying to do but i'm not going to do it. . now, republican tea partyers, like republican congressman brown who wanted to lower the debt ceiling have been reduced to relevance speak at a press conference attended by five members of congress sponsored by an organization no one has heard of, teaparty.net. >> we can stop this insanity in washington without raising revenue. we need to raise taxpayers not taxes on anyone.

i will not back down from that. >> people want to say, you guys are just trying to help your rich friends. i don't have a lot of rich friends. that is not what we're about. we're about trying to protect the principles in which this country was founded. >> i agree with the tea party. we've been taxed enough already. >> joining me now are sam stein, "huffington post" white house correspondent and political editor. and joy reid, managing editor for the grio. they had rand paul at this meeting. for a senator, we don't care how you are going to vote. we want to know if you are going to filibuster any deal. he would not dare say that. that's how toothless this group is. >> the tea party that was

supposed to be vaunted as they were going to take over the republican party. for a minute, they really did have old-fashioned republicans spooked. they were scared of them. john boehner essentially operated as the weakest speaker of the house in modern history for fear of them. now, john boehner and the house side has figured out, the way you deal with the tea party is by showing them who is boss. by revealing them for duty for bucking his leadership on votes, he has shown he is willing to use the power of the leadership for his caucus. if he could put a bill on the floor, the senate, this is going to pass the senate. this is all about the house. >> blake therenthal, he was on this program, a hard liner in the past. he said, you can't have every member of the conference trying to negotiate. we elected speaker boehner to be our leader.

we need to let him lead. >> you may be very nostalgic. that was a much more exciting legislative standoff than this one. the context has changed dramatically. back then, we were in the midst of the republican primary. michele bachmann was leading the polls. the tea party had been voted in. a wave election. they had just taken over the house again. boehner was their leader ostensibly. eric cantor is not undermining boehner in any way. we also have a different context politically. the house republicans maintained the majority but lost seats. i think they realize they can't go through these type of standoffs and continue to hold on to power. they also have cover, importantly, i think, from conservative commentators who are saying, maybe, this isn't

the best time to start demanding no rate hikes. i think when the cultures step out there and give you that type of cover, that does give a lot of leeway and it does quiet some of the louder tea party members of the caucus. >> as i said, they had exactly one senator with them today. let's listen to how tough rand ball wants to play this thing. let's listen to this. >> my suggestion to them has been, and i've talked to several members, and you can ask them too, i think we should put forward what we are for. if it gets beyond that and something is going to happen, i think we should encourage those in the house to vote present. let the democrats own this tax increase and it could become a democrat plan. >> you see the way the nut wing wants to play really, really tough is to let the democrats have what they want. >> let it pass, indeed. i think it is funny. you are seeing the tea party sort of devoid of friends now. they used to be the darlings of the party.

even the secret real backers of the tea party movement, which is the very rich themselves, big business, have gone on to the president's side on this. there is no one on their side. even big corporations, the lloyd blankfines of the world. the ceos are saying, go ahead, we'll take the rate hikes. now, they are just down to say, we'll talk about what we are for. you want to cut the department of education, school lunches, medicaid, medicare, lunches for kids. that's what they are for. the rest of the republicans don't want to touch it. >> sam, they had a terrible decision to make strategically with this press conference which is the tradition in washington. it is all about the bodies. how many people can you throw up there behind the microphone. that shows you how much strength you have. frequently, there is too big of a crowd to take the picture of. what they did, they showed us how much strength they had, which was nothing. then, on the other hand, if they didn't have the press conference, i would be sitting here saying, they have nothing.

so there was no way for them to reveal anything other than they had nothing. >> well, they did what they should have done. they got a smaller room and it made it look bigger. clearly, there is not the strength in numbers there anymore. part of it is because the business community has more or less abandoned them on this issue. they certainly will on the debt ceiling issue. also, because president obama is much more comfortable living with the consequences of a standoff than they are at this juncture. that's just underlining everything here. he can go over the cliff and build a tax cut plan that he can then subsequently pass. republicans don't really have that option. i think they know that. they can hold all the press conferences in the world. when it comes down to the actual vote, the only option they have is to either vote present, basically. i think that's what they were signifying there. >> sam stein and joy reid. thanks for joining me. >> you are sitting in for alex tomorrow. >> on now. now with alex wagner.

>> at 12 noon. >> sam, your not going to miss that, right? >> i'm surprised alex didn't pick me but i'm very happy for joy. i will watch and record it. >> thank you very much, both of you. coming up, a republican today offered a little bit of trivia about republicans and taxes an his trivia needs a little bit of a rewrite. that's coming up. newt gingrich says republicans can't beat hillary clinton and hillary clinton has just said something to barbara walters about running for president. tony award-winning actor, alan cumming will join me later. he may join me sooner than later. with alan, you never know. ♪ ♪

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coming up, when taxes are raised as part of the fiscal cliff deal, it means president obama and president lincoln will have one more thing coming. that's in the rewrite. how hard will it be to beat hillary clinton in 2016? evenly one politician has a higher approval rating. we will tell you who coming up. clue. it is not the president. americans believe they should be in charge of their own future.

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i am so grateful i had the experience of doing it before. but, you know, i think there are lots of ways to serve. so i will continue to serve. >> what would it take to convince you to run in 2016? >> that's all hypothetical. right now, i have no intention of running. >> that, of course, was hillary clinton speak of, yes, i am running for president unless some unforeseen circumstance prevents me. hillary was not the only presidential possibility. she also interviewed new jersey governor, chris christie. >> there are people who say you couldn't be president because you are so heavy. what do you say to them? >> that's ridiculous. that's ridiculous. i don't know what the basis of that is. >> i think they have worried about your health. >> i have done this job pretty well. people have watched me in hurricane sandy doing 18 hours days and getting right back up and being as effective in the job. so i don't really think that would be a problem. >> nate silver, the man that correctly predicted the outcome of this year's presidential

election said this about hillary clinton. she seems like democrats best bet perhaps by some extent to extend their winning streak to three or more terms in the white house. >> steve smith joining me now and jonathan capehart. steve, i want to you go to chris christie first. that question barbara walters asked him seems to me to be a hurdle he would have to get over in any national campaign. i think barbara is asking what is in the very first set of questions that voters would have on their minds. >> there is no question that its an issue. there is no question it is a legitimate issue. the help of presidential candidates is always a part of a presidential race. it is as physically grueling an experience as you can possibly have. he has done a tremendous job during this crisis in new

jersey. it is not analogous to running for president nationally over the course of four years. i think if he is going to be a serious presidential candidate, this is an issue that he is going to have to deal with. i say that as someone who admires him very, very much and hopes very badly that he will run for president as a republican. i think who could help remake the party. >> steve, i do think he handled that reasonably well in response to barbara's question. >> there is no question that he handled it well but his answer that, look, it's not going an issue, i think it's a ridiculous issue. politically, i think he is wrong on that. if he does want to be president, every presidential candidate goes in with assets and liabilities. one of these things you want to do in the time where the race is four years out is to start to remove some of those liabilities from your sheet. that's one of the liabilities i this i that he would have to work on. >> jonathan capehart, no one is talking about hillary clinton liabilities at this point,

whatever liabilities she had in the past as a presidential candidate have disappeared. we have newt gingrich saying she is, as far as he can tell at this stage, unbeatable. i did not hear anything close to a denial in what she said to barbara walters tonight about her presidential future. >> lawrence, i heard a person who is desperately waiting for her successor to be nominated by the president, for that person to take over from her and for her to disappear for however many months she needs to rest up from 20 years under the intense microscope that is being the first lady, then the senator, and then a presidential candidate, then the secretary of state. what i heard in there was, i'm not thinking about running for president. maybe later, talk to me about it. maybe i'll do it. you know what, quite frankly, lawrence, i don't think -- i

wouldn't be surprised if she didn't run. i know you are convinced she is running. i'm not convinced. >> i will be shocked if she doesn't run. steve schmitt, have we had any parallel like this? have we had anyone in either party who four years away from it is such an obvious and formidable front-runner, nonincumbent front-runner like this? >> not that i thick of. one of the remarkable things, when you look at her polling numbers is the degree to which she has transcended her controversies over her career. she has become an ecumenical figure in politics. she is admired by an awful lot of republicans and republican women. she has an awful lot of time to make her decision. she freezes the democratic primary process in place. everybody will have to wait to see what she wants to do. she is not going to be compelled to get in this early and have a three-year campaign or a

two-year campaign. she has all the time to rest and recover from the job she has had and to think this over. >> jonathan capehart, all of those microscopes and spotlights she has been under for 20 years and beyond, certainly in arkansas for many years before that, were all of her choosing, every one of these pressure jobs and positions she has been in has been of her choosing. this is not someone who is weighed down by the weight of the spotlight. she knows how to bear it and she knows what she has to do to win a presidential campaign and there is no reward for starting too late. >> that's true. she knows what the pressures are. she has been through a presidential campaign before. if she runs again, she knows what pitfalls are. she knows what mistakes she made in '08 and could learn from them in 2016. there is no doubt about it she is the front-runner if she chooses to jump into the race.

but i always caution people that the sky-high approval numbers that she has now are the result of the fact that while she has been secretary of state, she has been removed from the day to day national politics of other people who might have to get into the race. anyone who jumps into the race, whether their approval rating is at 70%, 65%, 60%, the moment they jump into the race, those numbers come down. this he have to get into the ring and invariably, no matter who the candidate is, he or she is going to say something to piss somebody off and lose support. >> jonathan capehart and steve smith, thanks for joining me tonight. coming up, the republican party's history on taxes and what republicans need to learn from abraham lincoln about taxes. that's in the rewrite.

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even reschedule her package. it's ups my choice. are you happy? i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. happy. happy. happy. happy. (together) happy. i love logistics. coming up, republicans and taxes. today, a republican congressman fighting against president obama's tax plan quoted president lincoln. what that congressman doesn't know about president lincoln's record on taxes. i'm sure it is not the only thing the congressman doesn't know. that's next. >> did you dress all anchorman just for me? >> except i have my own dennis shoes. >> that's normally the kind of thing i wear. under the dress, you never know. if i never stand in the course of the show, it could be anything going on. >> what goes beneath. stays beneath.

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monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro. one of the congressmen that attended that hopeless stand your ground republican on taxes shared this. >> i want to share with you today a little bit of trivia that's not trivial. that is that our federal tax system began as a result of the 16th amendment that was ratified in 1913.

do you realize that in this entire time, and even before that, going back to the founding of this nation, not once has a republican controlled house of representatives ever lifted the tax rates on the american citizens. so that means that if we do it here now, this will be unprecedented, raising the federal tax rates on our citizens for the first time in a republican-led house of representatives. congressman fleming is right. that is trivia that is not trivial. there are two reasons that a republican-controlled house of representatives has never raised income tax rates. one, because republicans generally don't like to do that. number two, which is by far the most important reason, americans have generally had the good sense to keep control of the house of representatives out of the hands of republicans. the last 100 years of income taxation, american voters have

entrusted the house of representatives to republicans for only 30 of those years. american voters who actually wanted to win world war i, were not about to let republicans control the house of representatives, which is to say control the power to tax, since all tax bills must, according to the constitution, originate in the house of representatives. the democratically controlled congress did the responsible thing and raised taxes to pay for world war i. american voters made the mistake of electing a republican house of representatives in the roaring 20s and as soon as they could, after the stock market crash of 1929 and the on set of the depression, the voters threw the bums out and elected a democratic house of representatives to get them out of the depression, which they did under the guidance of president franklin, della nor roosevelt. they kept him in the white house because they were intent on

winning world war ii and they knew taxes would have to be raised to pay for world war ii. american voters new they couldn't trust a republican house of representatives to get them through anything big, anything historic like world wars. congressman fleming wrote an op ed which he made hits point about this trivia that is not trivial. a republican house of representatives never, ever, ever raising income tax rates. in that piece he quoted abraham lincoln, adhere to your purpose and you will soon feel as well as you ever did. if you falter and give up, you will lose the power of keeping any resolution and will regret it all your life. congressman fleming forgot to

mention something about lincoln and the republican controlled house of representatives during lincoln's presidency. that republican controlled house actually passed our first income tax, which president lincoln signed into law to pay for the civil war. it was a progressive income tax. 3% on annual incomes over $600 and 5% on annual incomes over $10,000. the supreme court ruled those taxes constitutional. decades later in 1895, the supreme court suddenly reversed its self and the earlier decision and declared federal income taxes unconstitutional, which is why in 1913, it took a constitutional amendment to reestablish federal income taxation. now, i wouldn't have brought up this thing about abraham lincoln if congressman fleming had kept his store cal analysis focused

exclusively on the period beginning with the 1913 constitutional amendment allowing for income taxation but he had to go and mention abraham lincoln. as republicans love to do, republicans love to mention abraham lincoln, because abraham lincoln was a republican and because 21st first century republicans know that abraham lincoln is the only republican that many americans admire. abraham lincoln is also the only republican president, indeed the only president who has ever gotten a republican house of representatives to raise income taxes. republicans didn't just establish the very first income tax as i just described under president lincoln. two years later, they raised the rates. they doubled the top tax rate from 5% to 10%. that's back when republicans

were responsible. 150 years ago. the last time a republican house of representatives won a war was the civil war. they couldn't have done it without raising income taxes. in that 1913 constitutional amendment that finally and forever cemented congress' right to raise income taxes, that constitutional amendment was approved by a republican house of representatives. [ male announcer ] this is joe woods' first day of work.

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eli, you are so counting your chickens. >> whatever do you mean, i am sitting here chatting with my favorite reporter. >> what do you think of the dcc

suit? >> what should i think? >> did you ever anything to do with it? i am the first one to call you, aren't i? >> no. what are we talking about here? >> the democratic has brought suit against wendy scott carr charging her with a lack of residency status. >> now! >> that is your day job on "the good wife". >> i am "the good wife". >> let's take a look at your new film "any day now" it's about a gay couple's right to adopt. let's take a look at a scene from that. >> your honor, we are requested that marco be released into our custody. >> your request is denied. after lying to the court about the true nature of your relationship, you are lucky i don't charge you both with perjury.

>> he belongs with us. is this your idea of justice? >> mr. dante. >> we are talking about a human life here. >> a human life that you people don't give a damn about. >> if i so much as hear one more word out of your moth this morning, i will fine you in contempt of court and have you tossed back into jail. now, i have already ruled on your request. there is nothing that you can say or do, no how impassioned or dramatic, that will make me change my ruling. unless you have some other business before the court, i suggest you two of you find another venue in which to display your histrionics. >> it seems like a perfect appropriate venue for you to display your histrionics. >> yes. >> there are now 18 states that allow same-sex couples to adopt. there is a long way to go with this, isn't there? >> a lot of those states, it is not illegal but it's still a

very, very complicated. if you meet the wrong judge or social worker on the line, you know, you don't have any recourse. there is a long way to go. that's the thing about doing this movie. 1979 until now, a massive change in the way gay people are regarded and treated but not really as well at the same time. >> there seems to be more progress, clear progress, being made on marriage equality. >> yeah. it is so exciting. next week, is it next week, when the supreme court does it. >> it will be some months from now. >> they just announced they were going to. >> well, a step in the right direction. it is great that the president as been so vocal about it. i think the whole thing about, the biggest problem is prejudice, changing people's minds. people's minds don't get changed until laws get changed which make it illegal for them to really voice those opinions. once they have that, it's kind of behind them.

the world changes. i don't know. i'm in this funny state right now doing this movie and thinking a lot about it. i think, yes, it is so great. there are nine states where you can legally marry and have that but we are still treated as second class citizens. federally. there is no choice here. >> can you read that for mu. >> so far this week with your help and contribution, we have raised a total of $102,984 for the kind fund. kids in need of desks. >> this is serious. >> kids in africa. they need these desks.

that includes a new fund for girl tuition scholarships in malawi. if you would like to donate to the kind fund, which is a very serious and good thing, go to our website, lastworddesks.msnbc.com which links to the unicef contribution form. only 7% of girls in malawi complete their high school education. families that find a way to pay for tuition are more likely to send their sons to school. that's not a good thing. with the donation of just $177, you can pay for a full year's tuition for a girl in malawi. that covers everything, it is, transportation, books, uniform and any other learning material she may need. since we have announced the tuition program, we have raised month are than 30,000 for girls. that does not include the $20,000 that i contributed to the tuition fund here on the show on monday night. ce